Wiotgw-shade-operating device



H. M. MINNIS.

wmnow SHADE OPERATING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 10. 19].

Patented Dec. 16, 1919.

emm,

HENRY M. MINNIS,

or WYLIE, TEXAS.

WINDGVJ-SHADE-OPERATING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentednec, 16, 1919 Application filed March 10, 1919. Serial No. 281,778.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY M. MINNIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wylie, in the county of Collin and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Window-Shade-Operating Devices, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in window shade operating devices.

The aim of the invention is to obviate the winding spring now in common use and provide simple and efficient means for revolving the shade roller and retaining the roller in position whereby the shade is held at the desired point.

Tn carrying out the invention a drum is provided on the roller and the winding and unwinding cord is coiled around the drum. A ratchet is made fast on the roller and engages a fixed stop or dog on a bracket receiving the trunnion of the roller. The trunnion engages in an inclined slot. One of the particular features resides in an operating arm detachably pivoted to the bracket and having a slot through which the trunnion extends. The arm has alateral car through which the cord from the drum passes and thus by swinging the cord outward the arm is swung and the roller displaced so that the ratchet is withdrawn from the stop; whereby the roller is free to turn, so that by pulling on the cord the shade is wound or by releasing the cord the shade unwinds.

The invention will be more readily understood from a reading of the following specication and by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which an example of the invention is shown and wherein:

Figure 1 is a partial front elevation of a window shade equipped with an operating device constructed in accordance with this invention,

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on of Fig. 1,

Fig. a is an end view of the bracket and other parts,

Fig. 5 is a detail of the operating arm, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the bracket on line 6-6 of Fig. 4.

In the drawings the numeral 1 designates aplain roller having a trunnion 2at one end engaging in a bracket 3 from which it may the line 3-3 'be readily removed. At theopposite end the roller has a drum t with a ratchet 5 fixed to its end and a trunnion 6 extending from the ratchet. The trunnion 6 engages in an inclined slot? in a bracket 8. The bracket 8 has a notch 9 at its upper sides which freely receives. the shankof a headed stud 10. The stud is fastened to the upper end of an operating arm 11 which has an elongated slot 12 through which the trunnion 6 passes and has a lateral ear 13 directed toward the roller. The arm is disposed between the ratchet and the bracket 8 and the notch 9 is out of vertical alinement with the normal position of the trunnion 6, whereby the arm is inclined with its lower end directed outward. A cord 14 is coiled about the drum and passes through an eyelet 15 in the ear of the arm. This eyelet provides a smooth surface and reduces the wear of the cord. A fixed dog or stop 16 is bent from the bracket 8 at right angles thereto and is normally engaged by the ratchet whereby the roller is held against rotation and the shade prevented from unwinding.

It will be observed that the cord la is wound on the roller in the opposite direction to the window shade, so that one winds as the other unwinds. To release the roller the cord is swung outward as is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3. When the cord is thus swung the arm carries the trunnion 6 upward in the slot 7 and moves the ratchet from the stop 16. The slot 12 permits a free movement of the trunnion. When the cord is released the trunnion rides down the inclined slot 7 so that the ratchet engages the stop. While the roller is free the shade may be raised by'pulling downward on the cord or by moving the cord upward the shade will unwind from the roller.

The important features are the inclined slot and particularly the arm 11 with its stud 1O fitting loosely and removably in the notch 9. The arm is free to swing easily and by removing the roller, which carries with it the drum a, ratchet 5 and trunnion 6, the arm may be lifted from the bracket 8. This makes for a simple construction and provides for the stamping'of the bracket 8.

at a lower cost. The arm may be readily attached to the bracket and the roller quickly mounted.

What I claim, is:

In a window shade operating device, the

at the end of the roller, a ratchet attached to the end of the: roller, a trunnion carried at the end of the roller, abracket having an inclined slot receiving the trunnion, a stop bent at right angles from the bracket and normally engaged by the ratchet, the bracket having a notch in its upper edge, an operating arm having a slot receiving the trunnion, a laterally directed ear on the lower end of the 10 arm, an eyelet fastened in the ear and through which the cord passes, a stud projecting from the upper end of the arm and engaging in the slot, and a head on the stut holding the latter against lateral displacement from the notch, the notch of the bracket being out of vertical alinen'ient with the slot of the bracket whereby the arm is normally disposed at an inclination.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

HENRY M. MINNIS. 

